So. With exams in 2 1/2 weeks (eeek.) the pressure is on for me to study for the biggest exams of my year.

But guess what? There might not be a reason to study anymore. Not with something that was exposed to me on television.

Ryan Shelton Investigationing - Cheating

So...all I have to do is see if I can find one of these "cheachers" at school to hook me up with answers for my 3 external exams.And then that way, I have more time to watch the Switchfoot Webcam. sweet.I bet my media studies teacher is actually a cheacher...Just kidding.

ARGH.I hate doing homework on a holiday.Who actually does work on these days?and ARGH.Exams are in a few weeks.Why haven't I started studied.

and one more time, ARGH.I have assignments due tomorrow. I SHOULD BE DOING THAT INSTEAD!why is it so hard to concentrate?my stupid sore jaw.I need some music. now.*puts on windows media player*Oh..."I So Hate Consequences" by Relient K.Is that meant to be ironic? *grumbles*

well in all honesty, I'm actually biting a spoon. The wooden handle of a spoon to be exact. One of those really big spoon, ladle type things.Cause you know how my jaw has been locked up and I can't open it that wide?The cure the doctor said is to bite on a pencil. Really hard. Then it's suppose to go back into place.well we don't have a large pencil. So I have a wooden spoon.

I don't think it's working. I'm just getting bite marks in the spoon.

So as I have this wooden spoon in my mouth, trying to un-dislocate my jaw, I've been watching Jimmy Eat World videos. And will now confess how much I love them with a list:

Confession - reason I love this band is cause of Jim Adkins, the lead singer.

as stupid as it sounds, he just makes me melt. Not in a fangirly way, or maybe that is fangirly I don't know.And for some reason, he reminds me of my Classics teacher. Maybe it's just the hair, I also don't know.

Anyway, here's a quick run down on all videos that I love of Jimmy Eat WorldAlways Be - Jimmy Eat WorldI actually used this music in my media studies fake movie trailer for school, which was about this couple in high school, and the girlfriend who was close to suspension got knocked out with a tennis ball and the boy had to make her appear she was conscious... I would show my media trailer, but for legal reasons (apparently school has legal reasons. who knew.) I can't post it up (for now. Maybe once the actors have forgotten haha.) I got full marks for that trailer btw. hehe.

Real old school video. (well 2nd oldest I think...they're just too adorable)Lucky Denver Mint - Jimmy Eat World (featured on Never Been Kissed OST)

and one last video, because it's almost midnight. One of my favourites.Work - Jimmy Eat World

yeah he had the long hair thing a couple of years ago. Like an opposite to Jon Foreman. LOL."Work" may just be my anthem song when I'm leaving school. Just cause of that video.

Anyway, close to midnight now. I think I might go put the spoon away. I can't tell if my jaw is fixed.Oh well. That was a good time waster. Much better than doing the homework that's due this Tuesday.Crap. Maybe I should have done the homework instead. Oh well.

currently: listening to "Broken From The Start" by Jon Foreman for the 36th time.so...it's been some week.I've been having this problem with my jaw that prevents me from eating properly.I almost "died" in netball (the term is really "almost fainted or collapsed).We actually won our netball game 23-19.I accidentally nominated myself for the preliminary voting of head girl for school next year and I even got votes. But didn't get shortlisted. *phew*I have two pinpricks on my arm that still bleed from the blood tests I had to get.I spent $31 (well...mum spent) on photos for my Photography class external assessments.I sold bandannas for charity at school, making over $40 bucks.I pretty much was shocked over by the death of someone on LOBHI watched a guy shave off all his hair for cancer charity. (eyebrows included)And as the thunder and rain comes down, I'm really tired.Thank you Labour Day and long weekend.Anyway, to finish off this weekday period, here's lyrics to a song (which has no music yet) that I wrote on the 22nd in memory of Liss.(this is also up on my deviantArt. So far response to it has been good.)So this song is a very bittersweet song. It's about life, death and the people left behind. It's about one beautiful spirit, inside and out, reaching heaven like on the wings of butterflies. So fragile to hold. This is for Liss, my pain that I wish I knew her, but my happiness that she has made it to heaven. I can never know her from where I stand, but I still find love for her like I did.Glass ButterfliesI reach for those glass butterfliesbut they're so fragile to holdI'm watching them flyand I'm beginning to let gotheir wings too tender, too lightthey glow so beautifulas they're slowly out of my reachnothing was ever complete ch.if only I knew this was realif only I knew how you feelwith your glass butterflies

seventeen's still so young but Iknow that I've learnt so muchnothing is that seriousunless you're thinking of my loveand I come to recognisethat I'm a shadow, walking into lightswould you dare blue eyessay that you want this from your life

ch x2br.I take a glance aboveat your butterliesand I look to see their wingsfly to heaven highmy hands still want your touchand my arms still open upand everytime I close my eyesI see your smile

ch. x222/10/08 11:43pmSo...I'm off to study now.Much love, and goodnight.

currently: sad. but thankful"Life is short, live it well,Live for others- we rise and fall together…" - Jon Foremanhttp://www.landofbrokenhearts.org/updates.htm?blogentryid=4133121It was Macbeth in Shakespeare's play who said "life is but a walking shadow."I didn't know Liss like others did. But there is still pain.There is pain for a girl that left this earth too early than she was suppose to.It's pain for a father, for a mother who never saw their child grow up.It's pain for a brother or sister who never grew up with each other by their side.It's pain for a friend who never got to share a last moment.It's pain for a man who made one small but dramatic mistake.It's pain for a person who never got to have a moment with her.Death.The coldest, most painful word in the English language.She was only 17.This is a reminder how life is so fragile. Like the wings of a butterfly. So light, so free, so beautiful.I never knew you Liss, but I love you. Because of the impact you left on this earth. Now is the time to laugh, love and live. Remember, today could be your last.Much love.

I found this guy on youtube yesterday. I love his cover. And his metal shaker.Fantastic.btw- travel blog will be finished in 2 days. So you can check it out then. I swear.
I would have had most of it done if I didn't have to sew my sister's dance dress from scratch on Monday. Which I must say, 6 hours straight and it looked pretty darn awesome. And she won 2nd place in the cha cha the next day. I say it's because of the awesome dress. =D I might post a picture of it another time.

I spent a bit of time watching the Switchfoot webcam today. The webcam is awesome. You get to watch into Switchfoot's studio, seeing them record their new album, and sometimes you get to hear snippets of music if you're lucky.

I think one of the best things however, is the fact you get to chat on ustream with other people from around the world that watch the SF webcam too, and switchfoot themselves, when they're free to talk.

Today (well tonight) when the webcam was finally turned off (after seeing 2 hours of Chad drumming. He's hardcore) I had a nice chat with this guy, his nickname Cyrus. We spent a bit of time talking about Jon's latest blog (I suggest you read.) The movie is Call+Respond, a film documentary about human trafficking and modern day slavery. We agreed that it's hard to think that this still occurs in the world today. There are more slaves right now, than there were a hundred years ago. Slavery is right behind us, but we are too blind and unaware that we don't turn around to face it.

Me and Cyrus talked about wanting change in this world. We talked about wanting a movement. He was really active in charity work, volunteering at the animal shelter, organising to help homeless shelters, wanted to set up a sort of club specially for charity work. He was really quite inspiring. And made me sort of ashamed of myself haha.

He talked about how people are so pessimistic. They want to change the world, but don't.

He believed that God had a plan for him. I agreed.

This was only a glimpse to what we talked about. We only talked for a short while. But in that short while, it reminded me of the plans and purposes we have destined for us in this world.One shot. One try. One life. One change.So this week, create a change. And if you can, check out Call + Respond.Also happening is Breast Cancer Month and CanTeen Bandana Week. Support these too.

I've missed the smell of Auckland.It's real cold wind.The blue skies that are eventually spoiled by the big clouds.

and of course, the comfort of my own bed.

There are some things that can't be replicated. Home is where you feel like yourself. That you are yourself.

The plane trip back home was quite amazing.We left Malaysia at night. The city was on fire with it's lights. I can see why they call KL the City of Lights. (Although, many places call themselves the city of lights.)I watched Get Smart on the plane.Then watched and listened to some stuff...fell asleep for a bit.

Then I woke up to see the plane heading towards the sunrise.Never seen anything so gorgeous.Beneath us there were these lightning storms, you could see the clouds light up everytime they flashed over Australia.And the sun continued to rise.It was beautiful.

I know I haven't posted much inbetween but I'll catch up on it soon. With many pictures.much love.

Even if you only spent less than 2 hours in the sun, it can still burn.My pink arms could tell you that.I have the meanest watch tan right now. Kind of looks like it's the shape of a t-shirt.I've been in the sun plenty of times this trip. But I think because for once, there was no pollution blocking the UV rays, it caused me to get burnt.Where was this place?Genting Highlands, Malaysia.About an hour drive from KL up in the mountains.It's pretty much the closest to being back in Auckland as I can imagine.It was coolish, weather was...mehh, and I could breathe clean air due to the forests of trees.

Real early drive to get there. Like...EARLY early. 7am leaving the house. Earliest ever for me this whole trip.

Spent some time in this one area of Genting - One World. Where I pretty much visited every big city under one building.

After that - AMUSEMENT PARK. Thanks to my generous uncles who gave us whole day passes to there.

Managed to ride the big swinging swing, Malaysia's first rollercoaster (kinda lame really) and a couple of others. I missed out on going on the really awesome ones, like the flying coaster, but in my state at the time, bad Idea

I really don't remember much other than feeling sick though. Which really is not the best day to go to an amusement park. I only felt better after sitting at lunch, not eating but listening to "Awakening" by Switchfoot. Instant cure really. Cause one listen and I felt so much better. Music does mend all.

Next KL holiday, will have to make another decent me-no-sick trip to Genting. I see Epic Rollercoaster rides in the future.

Today, we embraced the KL lifestyle.After spending yesterday doing...well nothing at all (I watched Kung Fu Panda on a pirated dvd and posted some blogs) the morning was spent in the mall as one teenager normally does.I saw this in the arcade part of the mall which I thought was cute.So after a morning of shopping (I didn't buy much), there was more family meet, greet and eat for dinner. Seriously having this many rellies is not healthy.Then late at night, we went out to eat again. (as most people in KL do. And this is like 11pm to eat again. Stores can still be open till 3 am round here.)My lil sister was pretty obsessed in having this one time in this trip.It's called a Roti Tisu. Roti is known as this...well... this. It's good anyway. So Roti Tisu is kind of another variation. This is thin (like tissue thin) covered in butter and sugar. It's like eating popcorn, except bread/chip like version. And it's quite large.I also tried this sour sop drink. Not too bad. Like a lychee.

So that was my late night KL experience.If I lived here I would seriously be fat. Sometimes I can't help but eat all this food that's infront of me.

Spent the whole day meeting up with people and on the way to dinner to eat with more people I hadn't seen in yonks, the drive there was quite spectacular thanks to this sunset I took a picture of while in the car. I'm serious when I say you don't get stuff like that where I live. Think it has to do with KL being at the equator and NZ being at the bottom of...everything.

Okay, so I spent pretty much day 5 tripping it back to Singapore. Smoother flight thank goodness.

I had a nice Switchfoot sighting that I hadn't seen before when I arrived in KL.

(if you don't know this, check out part 1 of the video Switchfoot Hearts KL on landofbrokenhearts.org via media section)

Yesterday (Day 6) was spent doing the usual rellies greeting and food. I think I may have putted on a kilo or two...

So highlight of today's trip: On a recommendation of a friend back home, we outted to the Pavilion Mall in the centre of KL. Pretty much one big fat mall, but a mall for rich people. This is expensive brands central. Even when you look at the building it's like...all shiny. And glass.

(yes, I do realise I spelt swanky wrong.)I think it was 6 floors of swankiness. The lanterns inside were awesome I found. All the stuff for Hari Raya, this holiday that was going on while we were there. Which means, HOLIDAY SALES heheh.I bought some pretty funky stud earrings as Christmas pressies for friends back home. My favourite, this pair of little giraffes. *eeep*

Other than that, everything was expensive. Even with exchange rates and all. Still pricey.I'm more a thrift store shopper.

Started off walking towards the cathedral that was near the hotel. It was kinda cool. But I kept getting reminders about "engaged columns" and arches and stuff. Annoying Classics class reminders. (I'm sure my teacher would be glad however. I'm thinking about class when I'm on holiday.)

Anyway, we moved on to the Raffles City Mall. The mall is filled with all this expensive stuff, but that's not the interesting part (I'm a sales and bargain find girl)
What was interesting was the entrance.The idea is that in front of the artwork and the mall entrance, there are these two windows (red and blue) that are coloured glass, and when you look through them, you see a clear image.

Okay, I have NOT altered these photos at all except to put the colour layer on top of the image, and I made the image bigger too. But if you take the original photo and do it yourself, this is what you would see.

Strange to put infront of a mall. Maybe it's to put you off buying stuff? If it is, I didn't buy a single thing. Maybe cause I got distracted by the many different fountains in the one mall.

Anyway, after Raffles Mall (seriously, stuff is expensivvvvveeeee... huge mall, but expensive.) we travelled to Chinatown. LONG trip there, lots of MRT use, but we got there eventually.
Chinatown was hot and very crowded. Suddenly it felt like being back in Kuala Lumpur markets. Sorry but I didn't take any photos, too many people and most stores didn't allow photography. But here's a photograph of the area I took a couple days before.(this was by a bridge which was fully lined by lanterns)

Anyway, we were just too tired to do much shopping. Walking for hours...my feet were gonna fall off from pain. We walked back to the hotel.

Walking was all worth it though. It was all built up for this. Later that night, we were seeing a relative of ours, and we went to Swensens. Swensens is pretty much the coolest icecream resturant (it sells normal food too). Four years ago, me and my cousin shared this legendary icecream and I just had to do the same again this year. So me and my dad got this:

(so cool, I had to give it special font)
Seriously, it's quite huge. The picture doesn't do it justice. Costs about $20. The 8 flavours were Cookies and Cream, French Vanilla, Lime Sorbet, Caramel, Coffee, Rum and Raisin, Almond and Yam (Yam is the worst. I mean it's bright purple which is cool, but tastes disgusting.)
Then it had various toppins like chewy caramel, lemon, fudge, blueberry...I'm drooling now just thinking about it.
And of course, I had no problem finishing it.
I love it.
It's legendary.

The girl.

NZ blogger in the middle of life, love, the world and all that inhabits it. A web addict for radio by day; a web addict in general by night. Writing about the world, travels, food, pop culture and lifestyle.